Doubles Point Puts Broncos in Boys Final Versus Patriots; Bengals Win Deciding Match to Advance to Girls Final Against Stingrays at USTA National Spring Team Championships

©Colette Lewis 2017--
Mobile, AL--

The doubles point is considered significant in a Division I college dual match, setting the tone and, in retrospect, providing a deciding point in a close match. Due to rain in the forecast for Tuesday at the USTA National Spring Team Championships, two rounds of singles matches were played Monday, and with the subsequently juggled schedule, the doubles were played last in the boys semifinals.  The doubles point didn’t matter to the Patriots, who clinched their 4-3 win over the Rams prior to the doubles, but the Falcons and the Broncos split their singles matches, meaning the doubles point would decide who played in the finals.

Down 3-2 in singles, the Falcons’ Beau Pelletier ensured the doubles would matter, taking a 7-6(2), 7-6(4) win over the Broncos’ John Speicher at the 18s line 1. It was a grueling two and a half hour match, made all the more tense and challenging by gusty winds, but after a short rest, both players were back on the court for the deciding doubles.

Prospects appeared bright for the Falcons when they took a 4-0 lead in the 14s and were on serve in the 16s and 18s, but even the no-ad, one-set doubles format provided enough room for a Bronco comeback. Connor Krug and Isaac Smith somehow managed to win six games in a row from Falcons Chris Fok and Noah Gampel, and improbably were the first team to finish.  By that time, Speicher and Andrew Rogers had gotten a break at No. 1 over Pelletier and Alexander Exsted, but could not close out the match, giving the Falcons new life.  But Broncos 16s Harry Cacciatore and Cole Groetsch finished the job, breaking Evin McDonald and Alexander Kiefer to take the 6-4 decision and put their team in the final.

Broncos coach Bryan Minton said he was confident in his doubles teams, but well aware of the potential for the unexpected.

“I felt like we had the better doubles teams and I was excited about that,” said Minton, who is coaching in the tournament for the first time. “But obviously, you never know. It’s a six-game set, it’s no ad, and things could not go your way pretty quickly. We got down 4-0 in a heartbeat in our 14s, and I was nervous about that. I just kept telling the boys, take one point at a time, play your best shots, and they found a way to come back. So I had confidence, but yeah, those can go quickly the other way with just a little momentum.”

Minton, who is a partner at the MW Tennis Academy in Charleston, South Carolina, said he was excited to be invited to coach in the event.

“I’ve done zonals before, but it was a long time ago,” said Minton, who coached Shelby Rogers earlier in her career. “I’ve been doing more and more things with USTA Player Development camps, so I got an invitation to be a coach here and I jumped on it. I love this kind of atmosphere, it’s a blast. I always have a great time with the kids who end up on my teams. And one of my [academy] girls is here, so I was excited to get a chance to watch her as well.”

The Patriots, who are coached by Matthew Boughton, got wins from Jake Krug at the 14s line 2, Randy Cory at the 18s line 2, Nicolas Garcia at the 16s line 2, with Kevin Zhu clinching at the 18s line 1.  The final will feature twins Jake and Connor Krug, but with Connor at 14s line 1 and Jake at 14s line 2 in singles, only the doubles will have them going head-to-head.

The girls semifinals, with the doubles played first, finished under the lights of the Mobile Tennis Center, with both the Stingrays and the Bengals posting 4-3 victories.  Although all six girls matches played in the medallion bracket ended with 4-3 scores, not all came down to the last match on, with several clinched prior to the completion of all singles matches.

That was the case for the Stingrays, who led 3-2 before Rebecca Lynn clinched their place in the final with a 6-2, 6-2 win over the Angels’ Nore Ann Heinitz at the 14s line 2.  The Stingrays had won two of three matches to take the doubles point, with all three doubles matches going to a tiebreaker.  Kolie Allen and Catherine Gulihur picked up the other two singles points for the Stingrays, at the 18s lines 1 and 2. The Stingrays coach Chris Kwon will face fellow tournament rookie Seth Walrath of the Bengals, who did experience the stress of being on the sidelines of a last match on.

The Bengals had swept the doubles and got wins from Daniella Benabraham at the 14s line 2 and Carly Briggs at the 16s line 1, after the Sharks had gotten their first point from Malaika Rapolu at the 16s line 2. The Sharks the swept the 18s with McCartney Kessler winning at line 1 and Sophia Patel at line 2, both in three sets, with Patel’s win pulling the Sharks even. Calissa Dellabarca had just forced a third set in her match with Mary Grace Armistead at the 14s line 1, giving the Sharks hope, but Armistead came through with a hard-fought 6-4, 2-6, 6-1 victory.

“She brought a lot of energy in that third set,” said Walrath, who works in Junior Development at the USTA Middle States section. “She lost energy in the second, but in the third, she got pumped up again and brought herself back to the level she had played at earlier. She stayed super positive.”

In his first experience with the National Team event, Walrath was impressed with how quickly his team came together.

“They jelled within the first hour,” Walrath said, showing off his tiger-striped ribbon tied around his wrist. “I coached Intersectionals in the 16s and at other national tournaments, but I hadn’t coached this tournament, so I didn’t know what to expect. But the format’s amazing, and as I said, we really had a lot of team chemistry and that goes a long way. You could see them all rooting for each other.”

The weather forecast for Tuesday currently shows a chance of rain all day, with the percentages highest in the late afternoon. If it holds off, both the doubles and singles will be played on Tuesday, but if it does not, the tournament will end as previously announced on Wednesday.

Results from all second round and third round matches can be found at the TennisLink site.

Quarterfinals Set at USTA Spring Team Championships; Emory Women Claim Division III Team Indoor Title; Potapova Wins Brazil $25K;Pro Circuit Update

©Colette Lewis 2017--
Mobile, AL--

The first day of the 2017 USTA National Spring Team Championships was a new experience for many players and coaches, yet even those who were veterans of the event, now in its fourth year, still needed to acclimate themselves to new teammates and a new coach.

The boys, who played at 9 a.m. on a mostly cloudy but rain-free day, had four of the eight matches finish 4-3, but only two of those came down to the last match on. The Broncos' Connor Krug defeated Andrew Chang of the Panthers 3-6, 6-0, 6-2 at the 16s line 2 to put his team into the quarterfinals, while it was the two 14s who delivered for the Saints in their 4-3 win over the Cowboys. Trailing 3-2, Sam Reichbach defeated John Lasanajak 6-2, 6-3 at line 2 and James Corsillo beat Griffin Daehnke 6-3, 7-5 at line 1 to clinch the match. The Saints had lost all three doubles matches, but won four of six singles matches to advance.

The Falcons defeated the Buccaneers 5-2 after dropping the doubles point, and their coach, Francisco Montoya, was able to joke about the length of the match, which is extended until all singles matches are completed.

"We had a four hour match, so it’s a rough start, but we won, so that’s good," said Montoya, who is coaching a team at this event for the first time.  "The kids put a great effort out there. It’s funny how only one day of mingling, they feel like teammates. Just one day of not knowing each other, having to shake hands and introduce themselves and already cheering for each other in the third set, so that’s very cool."

Montoya, who is director of the MAC Academy in Boston, said he had heard good things about the tournament from his colleagues at MAC and decided to apply.

"A couple of the coaches who work with me have done it, and they love it," Montoya said. "Plus, we’re in the middle of winter out there, so I was looking forward to spending a few days with 70 degrees, and I’m totally fine with that."

Montoya said melding six junior players who have probably never met before into a team within 24 hours could have been a challenge, but Saturday's practice day and the banquet proved sufficient.

"In practice yesterday, I did a ton of rotating around, so that would all hit with each other, even the 14s with the 18s," Montoya said.  "I’m actually learning from other coaches that I see that they have some better activities.  My roommate Andy [Findlay], he had all these games he was doing with the girls to have them interact with each other in different ways, so I’m taking notes. But so far so good."

The Falcons play the Saints in the quarterfinals.

The girls also had four 4-3 finishes, and, as with the boys, only two of those came down to the last match on court.

Kolie Allen of the Stingrays defeated Maia Sung of the Firecrackers 1-6, 6-1, 7-6(2) at line 1 of 18s singles to send her team to the quarterfinals, and the Tornados' Julia Andreach outlasted Lauren Anzalotta of the Devils 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 at 16s line 2 to do the same.

In contrast to Montoya, Tornados coach William Brown is a veteran of the tournament, having coached a team all four years.

"It's a fantastic event," said Brown, who guided the Angels to the girls title in 2015. "I've had pretty good luck, with my teams 11-2 in three years, and I generally focus on doubles in the practices. It's usually them against the world in a tournament, so I try to reverse that as quickly as possible here. I get them thinking outside themselves, about the team, something bigger than themselves, and I actually think it takes a little pressure off, and I think they tend to play better."

Andreach and Anzalotta were evenly matched, with Andreach able to get a late break after a lengthy 4-all game in the third set and serve out the victory as dusk descended at the Mobile Tennis Center.

"It swayed back and forth," said Brown, who sat on the bench encouraging Andreach throughout the third set. "One girl was a little more aggressive sometimes, and then back up and the other one would pick it up and become more aggressive, start to dictate. It was just a great match."

The Tornados will play the Sharks in the quarterfinals, with the Stingrays taking on the Lightning.

With rain in the forecast for the next several days, the decision was made to play the second round's doubles this evening.

Updated draws are here, and results for all the day's matches can be found at the TennisLink site, which has the option to select results by player.

Another big team event, the ITA Division III Women's Team Indoor Championships, was completed today, with No. 1 seed Emory defeating defending champion and No. 2 seed Pomona-Pitzer 5-4 to join the Eagles' men's team, who won the Indoor title last Sunday, at the top of the Division III tennis world.  Daniela Lopez defeated Mae Coyiuto 5-7, 6-3, 6-0 at line 3 to clinch the win for the reigning NCAA champions. The ITA recap is here.

The battle of two 15-year-olds searching for their first Pro Circuit title ended with Anastasia Potapova of Russia defeating qualifier Amanda Anisimova 6-7(7), 7-5, 6-2 at the $25,000 tournament in Curitiba Brazil. Apparently rain forced the match indoors late in the second set, with Potapova getting a late break after the move to even the match. In the third set, Potapova got 2/3 of her first serves in, didn't face a break point and had three aces, quite a contrast from the first set in particular, when she was broken four times, twice when serving for the set.

At the $15,000 Futures in Orlando, former Tulane star Dominik Koepfer of Germany defeated Tommy Paul 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 to claim his second career Futures title.  Koepfer, who graduated last year, was unseeded, while Paul was the No. 3 seed.

2016 Wimbledon boys champion Denis Shapovalov won the $25,000 Futures in Canada today, with the No. 2 seed downing top seed Gleb Sakharov of France 6-2, 6-4 in the final. It's the fourth career Futures titles for the 17-year-old.  The doubles title went to former Tennessee star Mikelis Libietis of Latvia and Hugo Nys of France, with the No. 3 seeds defeating unseeded Gregoire Barrere and Laurent Lokoli of France 7-6(4), 6-3 in the final.

And congratulations to Sam Querrey, who beat four Top 20 players en route to the title at the ATP 500 tournament in Acapulco.  Querrey took out David Goffin, Dominic Thiem, Nick Kyrgios and, in the final, Rafael Nadal.  It's Querrey's ninth ATP title and second at the 500 level. For more on his title, see the ATP website.

USTA Spring Team Championships Begin Sunday; Anisimova and Potapova Meet in Brazil $25K Final; Hilderbrand and Price Win ITF Grade 4 Titles; Sanchez, Giron Earn BNP Paribas Qualifying Wild Cards; Emory and Pomona-Pitzer in D-III Women's Indoor Final

I'm in Mobile Alabama for the fourth annual USTA National Spring Team Championships, which will begin on Sunday at 9 a.m., with eight boys matches. The eight girls matches are scheduled to begin at 2 p.m.  Unlike the previous three years, the 12s are not participating in the event, in part to better mirror the collegiate format, with three doubles matches, one in each of the 14s, 16s, and 18s,  and six singles matches, two in each age division. (A late announcement of format change involving doubles resulted in no-ad scoring and one point for the team that wins two of three matches).  Previously there were four doubles matches and eight singles matches to accommodate the 12s, who were given their own Spring Team Nationals, taking place now in Tucson.

The teams have been chosen, via the waterfall method, meaning all teams should theoretically be equal, eliminating the need for seeding.  The teams met and practiced today with their assigned coaches on a picture perfect day at the Mobile Tennis Center, and tonight's banquet revealed the draw and Sunday's first round matchups.

All teams will play four matches, via a compass draw.  The finals are scheduled for Wednesday, with USTA gold balls medallions going to the winning teams.

The final of the $25,000 ITF Women's Circuit tournament in Curitiba Brazil Sunday will feature two of the world's best juniors, with 15-year-olds Amanda Anisimova and Anastasia Potapova both cruising through their older semifinal opponents today.  Potapova defeated No. 5 seed Jil Teichmann of Switzerland 6-1, 6-1 in 58 minutes; Anisimova defeated top seed Irina Khromacheva of Russia 6-2, 6-1 in 53 minutes.  It's the first top 100 win for Anisimova, with Khromacheva currently ranked 89.   Unsurprisingly, Anisimova and Potapova have already met four times, with Potapova winning in the 12s at the 2013 Eddie Herr, Anisimova winning at the 2015 Grade 1 in College Park Maryland, Potapova winning at the 2015 Orange Bowl and Anisimova winning at the French Open in 2016.

Trey Hilderbrand and Gabby Price won the singles title today at the ITF Grade 4 tournament in El Salvador.  The 16-year-old Hilderbrand, who was unseeded, defeated No. 4 seed Tyler Zink 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 to earn his third ITF junior singles title, with the previous two at the Grade 5 level.  Price, an unseeded 13-year-old, won her first ITF singles title, beating Jordan Harris, also unseeded, 7-6(2), 6-4.

Drew Baird and partner Manoel De Alencar of Brazil won the boys doubles title, beating Justin Boulais of Canada and Boruch Skierkier of Argentina 4-6, 6-2, 11-9 in the final. Neither team was seeded.  No. 4 seeds Harris and Alyssa Mayo lost in the girls doubles final, with No. 3 seeds Raphaelle Lacasse of Canada and Tamara Racine-Beauchamp of Switzerland winning 6-3, 6-4.

Former Pac-12 standouts Maria Sanchez and Marcos Giron earned their places in the BNP Paribas Open qualifying draws with victories today in the BNP Challenge.  UCLA's 2014 NCAA singles champion Giron, seeded No. 1, defeated No. 3 seed Evan Song 7-5, 6-3 in the final.  All seven of Giron's victories this week were in straight sets.   No. 7 seed Sanchez, a former USC star, downed No. 13 seed Claire Liu 6-1, 6-4 in today's final.  Sanchez also won all seven of her pre-qualifying matches in straight sets.

At the women's Division III Team Indoor, top seed Emory and No. 2 seed Pomona-Pitzer will meet in Sunday's final.  Emory defeated No. 4 seed Washington University-St. Louis 8-1, while Pomona Pitzer, the defending champion, earned a 6-3 win over No. 3 seed Chicago.  Box scores can be found here.

February Aces; Young Americans Receive BNP Paribas Open Wild Cards; Easter Bowl ITF Acceptances; Anisimova, Potapova Advance to Semifinals at $25K in Brazil; Top Four Seeds Reach Semifinals at Women's D-III Team Indoor

My monthly column for the Tennis Recruiting Network on February's top performances is up, with the National Indoor Team Champions leading off.  Also featured are three young Americans who won titles on South American clay, as well as plenty of young girls from all over the globe who won Pro Circuit events.

The BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells announced its main draw wild cards today, with all but one of them going to Americans.  Receiving the women's wild cards, from the youngest to the oldest, are Kayla Day, Taylor Townsend, Jennifer Brady, Danielle Collins, Nicole Gibbs, Irina Falconi and Bethanie Mattek-Sands.  The international player receiving a wild card is Donna Vekic of Croatia.

The men's wild cards, again listed youngest first, are Stefan Kozlov, Frances Tiafoe, Taylor Fritz, Reilly Opelka and Bjorn Fratangelo.

The qualifying wild cards have not yet been released, but two of them will be known on Saturday, when the finals of the BNP Paribas Challenge are held.  Top men's seed Marcos Giron beat No. 4 seed Clay Thompson 6-4, 6-4 to reach the final, where he will face No. 3 seed Evan Song. Song defeated No. 2 seed Michael Geerts of Belgium 6-4, 7-6 in today's semifinal.

No. 13 seed Claire Liu will face No. 7 seed Maria Sanchez in the women's final, after Liu took out No. 11 seed Ashley Kratzer and Sanchez defeated No. 14 seed Allie Sanford 6-2, 6-1.

The Easter Bowl ITF Grade B1 acceptances have been released, with most of the same Americans who entered the Grade 1 International Spring Championships in Carson the week before.  Vasil Kirkov, who is not playing in Carson, is entered, while Caty McNally, who entered Carson, is not on the list of Easter Bowl acceptances.  Unlike Carson, which is open to international players, the Easter Bowl is closed, with only Americans and those with the required immigration status allowed to compete in Indian Wells.

As I mentioned on Monday, Amanda Anisimova is not entered in either Southern Californian event, with the Miami Open going on during that time a possible reason why.  Anisimova's shot at a wild card there has only been enhanced by her performance this week at the $25,000 ITF Women's Circuit event in Brazil, where the 15-year-old qualifier reached the semifinals with a 6-1, 6-2 win over No. 6 seed Daniela Seguel of Chile. Next up for Anisimova is top seed Irina Khromacheva of Russia, currently No. 89 in WTA rankings.

Fellow 15-year-old Anastasia Potapova of Russia is also having her best Pro Circuit tournament. Like Anisimova, Potapova has played little outside the ITF Junior Circuit, but this week, using a junior exemption for entry, she has also advanced to the semifinals, beating qualifier Berfu Cengiz of Turkey 6-2, 6-4.  Potapova will play No. 5 seed Jil Teichmann of Switzerland.

At the $15,000 USTA Pro Circuit Futures in Orlando, Tommy Paul has advanced to the semifinals with a 6-1, 1-6, 6-1 win over former Baylor star Julian Lenz of Germany, a qualifier.  Paul will play No. 7 seed Andrea Collarini of Argentina, who is looking to reach his third consecutive Futures final in the Florida swing.  The top half semifinal features former Tulane star Dominik Koepfer of Germany and Fred Simonsson of Sweden, both of whom are unseeded.

Connor Smith and Rhyne Williams picked up their second Futures doubles title in three weeks, with the No. 4 seeds beating No. 2 seeds Jaume Pla Malfeito of Spain and Ramkumar Ramanathan of India 6-4, 6-4. Smith and Williams did not drop a set in their four victories.

The top four seeds advanced to the semifinals at the ITA Division III Women's Team Indoor Championships, with Emory[1], Pomona-Pitzer[2], Chicago[3] and Washington-St. Louis[4] earning victories. Only the match between Washington and No. 5 seed Carnegie Mellon was close, with Washington taking it 5-4, but having built up a 5-0 lead before Carnegie Mellon got on the board.

Higueras to Transition to Consulting at USTA; BNP Paribas Challenge Semifinals Set; New ITA Division III Rankings; Women's D-III Indoor Begins Friday

The USTA announced today that Jose Higueras will be leaving his position as Director of Coaching by year-end but will continue to work with the the USTA as Master Coach Consultant, Development and Planning.  The 64-year-old Palm Springs resident was hired by the USTA in 2008, shortly after Patrick McEnroe was named General Manager of Player Development. The release explains what Higueras will do as a consultant, which doesn't sound that much different from his current duties, but perhaps the future responsibilities and travel will not take up as much of his time as the current ones do.  I have not heard if the position of Director of Coaching will be filled, but it appears that if it is, it won't be right away.  The release, with comments from USTA Executive Director Gordon Smith and GM of Player Development Martin Blackman, can be found here.

The semifinals are set for the BNP Paribas Challenge, the pre-qualifying event for a wild card into next week's BNP Paribas Open qualifying in Indian Wells.  The men's semifinals will feature the top four seeds, with former UCLA teammates Marcos Giron[1] and Clay Thompson[4] playing in one semifinal and No. 3 seed Evan Song and No. 2 seed Michael Geerts facing off in the other.

The women's draw played out much less predictably, with No. 7 seed Maria Sanchez the highest seed, and the oldest player, remaining. The 27-year-old Sanchez will play No. 14 seed Allie Sanford, who beat fellow 18-year-old Sonya Kenin[2] 6-3, 6-2 in the round of 16 and 16-year-old Salma Ewing[22] 6-1, 6-1 in the quarterfinals.  Sanford, the 2016 Easter Bowl champion, is obviously comfortable on the Indian Wells courts.  The other semifinal will feature 18-year-old Ashley Kratzer, the No. 11 seed, against 16-year-old Claire Liu, the No. 13 seed, who won the Easter Bowl title on the same courts back in 2015. Kratzer took out No. 5 seed Michelle Larcher de Brito of Portugal 6-4, 6-4 in the quarterfinals.

The first ITA Division III team rankings since November were released today, with National Indoor Champion Emory moving into the top spot of the men's rankings, while the Emory women stayed at No. 1. Click on the headings to go to the full list.

Men's Top 10 Team: (previous ranking in parentheses)
1. Emory University (2)
2. Bowdoin College (1)
3. Middlebury University (3)
4. University of Chicago (5)
5. Washington University - St. Louis (4)
6. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (6)
7. Carnegie Mellon University (7)
8. Whitman College (24)
9. Pomona-Pitzer (9)
10. Case Western Reserve University (8)

Women's Top 10 Team:
1. Emory University (1)
2. Williams College (2)
3. Middlebury College (3)
4. Bowdoin College (4)
5. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (5)
6. Pomona-Pitzer (6)
7. Amherst College (7)
8. Wesleyan University (8)
9. Tufts University (9)
10. Univ. of Chicago (10)

It's obvious which gender has already held its Team Indoor, with none of the women's positions changing at all.  The women's Team Indoor begins Friday in Murfreesboro Tennessee, with Sewanee: University of the South serving as host. Pomona-Pitzer is the defending champion. Friday's quarterfinal matches, which are available via subscription to FloTennis, are as follows:

Emory[1] vs Mary Washington[8] 4:30 p.m.

Carnegie Mellon[5] vs Washington St. Lous[4] 8:30 a.m.

University of Chicago[3] vs Sewanee[6] 2:00 p.m.

Johns Hopkins[7] vs Pomona-Pitzer[2] 11:30 a.m.

The ITA preview is here.

Billie Jean King Endows New ITA Award Honoring Ann Lebedeff; No Change Atop USTA D-I Rankings; Anisimova Reaches Curitiba $25K Quarterfinals; Nanda Earns First ATP Point

The ITA announced a new award today, funded by legend Billie Jean King.  The Ann Lebedeff Leadership Award honors the Pomona-Pitzer women's coach, who has been an innovative and admired coach for decades, leading teams at Arizona, Cal Poly Pomona, and since 1998, Pomona-Pitzer. The award, which will go to a recent college graduate, recognizes a player who demonstrates "grit (i.e. passion and perseverance towards long-term goals), a commitment to social justice and equality and will have pushed others to be leaders in addition to demonstrating his or her own leadership," according to the ITA's release.  Details on the path to nomination for the award are contained in the release, which also contains quotes from Stanford's two-time NCAA singles champion Nicole Gibbs.

The USTA's Division I team rankings were released today, and unlike the ITA rankings that came out yesterday, the Virginia men retain their No. 1 position. Compared to the computer rankings, this poll showed little movement this week. Below are the top 10, with the Top 25 rankings available here (note the new website design for usta.com).

Men's Top 10: (last week's ranking in parentheses)
1. Virginia (1)
2. Ohio State (2)
3. Wake Forest (3)
4. North Carolina (4)
5. California (5)
6. Oklahoma (6)
7. Texas (9)
8. UCLA (7)
9. Florida (8)
10.Oklahoma State (11)

Women's Top 10:
1. Florida (1)
2. North Carolina (2)
3. Ohio State (3)
4. Stanford (4)
5. Oklahoma State (6)
6. California (7)
7. Auburn (11)
8. Georgia (5)
9. Michigan (8)
10. Georgia Tech (12)

Amanda Anisimova continued to impress on Brazilian clay courts, with the Grade A Porto Alegre champion advancing to the quarterfinals of the $25,000 ITF Women's Pro Circuit tournament in Curitiba.  The 15-year-old Floridian defeated No. 3 seed Montserrat Gonzales of Paraguay, who has a WTA ranking of 198, 6-2, 6-2 in the second round today.  She will play No. 6 seed Daniela Seguel of Chile on Friday.
ITF World No. 1 junior Anastasia Potapova of Russia qualified for the event and yesterday won her first round match over No. 2 seed Teliana Pereira of Brazil 7-6(5), 6-2.

Govind Nanda, who turned 16 last month, earned his first ATP point today, beating fellow qualifier Michael Riechmann 7-6(5), 6-3 in the first round of the $15,000 Orlando Futures. He will face No. 8 seed Peter Nagy of Hungary next. Nanda was one of three US teens to advance through the four rounds of qualifying, but Sam Riffice and Patrick Kypson were stopped short of adding to their ATP point totals with straight-sets losses today. Other Americans advancing to the second round are No. 2 seed Sekou Bangoura, No. 3 seed Tommy Paul and Rhyne Williams.

Americans are also competing this week at the first Futures in Canada this year, a $25,000 event in Gatineau.  Advancing to the second round are qualifiers JC Aragone and Quinton Vega, Ryan Shane, No. 8 seed Ray Sarmiento and Eric Quigley.  Adam El Mihdawy reached the second round, but for some reason played his second round match today, and retired after losing the first set to former Auburn star Tim Puetz of Germany.  Canadian teens Denis Shapovalov[2] and Felix Auger-Aliassime have also moved on, with Shapovalov reaching the third round, Auger-Aliassime the second, with victories today.